Malawi Police hunt for 12-year-old albino remains

A step father to a 12-year-old boy with albinism who went missing last week has revealed to Police where he buried the remains of the child, police disclosed on Tuesday.

“We are currently on our way to Phalombe to go and exhume the body,” a police source close to the investigations disclosed.

Joseph Kachingwe went missing on July 6, 2018 after an outing with two friends in the southern district of Phalombe.

Overstone Kondowe, president for the Association of People with Albinism (Apam) in Malawi, said on a WhatsApp forum for Apam confirmed that the main suspect was the boy’s step-father.

“He is the one who has revealed where the body is buried,” Kondowe said.

Amnesty International in their report says erroneous beliefs and superstitions have put the safety and lives of people with albinism at risk in Malawi, including from killings, abductions, and mutilations.

“Societal attitudes about albinism are not changing, and people with albinism continue to be at risk of attacks with some children being abducted and sold by family members,” the 2018 report says

Despite stronger legislation since 2016, including reforms to the Penal Code and the Anatomy Act, to tackle attacks against people with albinism, the killings have been on the rise since 2014.